JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Cocoa has been on the minds of the Bradford football team for a year. Now, the Tornadoes get a shot at redemption when those teams meet up on Friday night for the Class 2S state championship in Tallahassee. Here’s a glance at the matchup between the teams. This game brings down the curtain on the 2023 high school football season for area teams.
Looking for the Class 3S state championship game glance? Find that one here.
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Looking for the Class 4M state championship game glance? Find that here.
Class 2S state championship
Bradford (14-0) vs. Cocoa (13-1)
When: Friday, 8 p.m.
Where: Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Watch it: Games will be streamed on Ballysports.com. Free trials are available and so are monthly packages.
Road here: Bradford d. Atlantic, 42-0; d. Gainesville Eastside, 28-7; d. Baker County, 43-0; d. Pensacola Catholic, 22-21 (OT); Cocoa d. Eustis, 54-7; d. Dunnellon, 35-0; d. South Sumter, 34-14; d. Booker, 41-3.
Glance: The rematch is here. The Tigers knocked Bradford off in the state semifinals last season (31-21) en route to the state championship. It scored more in that game than Bradford had allowed to any team all season. And the Tornadoes remember that and remember it well. The Tornadoes needed a comeback-from-the-dead rally last week to shock Pensacola Catholic in overtime. Bradford’s offense struggled for three solid quarters before it finally strung things together — and dodged a field goal by Catholic to end regulation — to win on a two-point conversion run in OT. Bradford matches up well against Cocoa and it’s the total collision of styles. The Tornadoes are LB heavy, with Chason Clark (Marshall commit, 18 TFL), Devon McBride (95 tackles) and Duke Lewis (88 tackles, 20 TFL, 11 sacks) the wreckers. DE Torin Brazell is a savage on the edge, with 29 tackles for loss and 15 of Bradford’s 50 sacks. The secondary has some weapons, too. S Jeremiah McKenzie (85 tackles, 7 TFL, 2 INT) and CB Chalil Cummings (67 tackles, 2 INT) headlining the back end of the defense. Bradford gets to the football extremely well. This is a veteran-heavy team and these players have been together for years. They are a nasty, physical and swarming unit. QB Daejon Shanks scored the two-point run to send Bradford to the final. He’s slippery out of the pocket and has a 1,000-1,000 passing/rushing season with 30 combined TDs. Cummings is his frequent target on offense with TD grabs. The offense has been held in check at times this season, something worrisome when it comes to Cocoa’s track meet-style attack. If this game becomes a race to 50, can Bradford hang? The Tigers are averaging 36.6 ppg and are equally as good throwing the ball as they are running it. … This marks Bradford’s first title game appearance since 1985. The Tornadoes won back-to-back state championships (Class A titles in 1965-66). It is Jamie Rodgers’ second championship game as a head coach.
Rodgers (above) has been a program builder throughout his career. He took his alma mater, Baker County, to the title game in 2017 before losing to Plantation American Heritage. Rodgers also took Suwannee to the state semifinals in just his third season there (2014). … The Tigers like to run and gun in coach Ryan Schneider’s fast-paced offense. WR and Ohio State commit Jayvan Boggs is the player Bradford will key on. He’s got 1,445 receiving yards and 23 TDs. Cocoa has big RB in Latrison Lane (1,035 rushing yards) and a top-shelf QB in Brady Hart (3,517 passing yards, 40 TDs). Cocoa’s lone loss was a disputed one, a 37-36 game to powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, a school Schneider previously served as the offensive coordinator at. Cocoa led that game 36-34 before a series of officiating errors allowed Aquinas time to kick a game-winning field goal. Cocoa has won four state championships, including one over Bolles in 2016, a game that was the last in iconic coach Corky Rogers’ career. Raines followed up with back-to-back wins over Cocoa in the 2017 and ‘18 championship games.